Aging mobile homes a challenge for upkeep

Hundreds in Sioux Falls predate standards set in 1976

Sep. 17, 2013

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Christina hugs her father, Kevin Wieser, after arriving home from school Sept. 5 at Marion Manor. Hundreds of mobile homes in Sioux Falls built before 1976 have exceeded their expected lifespan. That has prompted worries about increasing disrepair. / Jay Pickthorn / Argus Leader

Homes in the Marion Manor Mobile Home Park on West 12th Street. Sioux Falls has 2,873 mobile homes, hundreds of which were built before 1976. / Jay Pickthorn / Argus Leader

By the numbers

2,873 mobile homes in Sioux Falls 28 the number of licensed mobile home parks in Sioux Falls 17 percentage of mobile homes in Minnehaha County built before 1976 $52 average tax paid on pre-1976 mobile homes $2,637 average assessed value in Minnehaha County of pre-1976 mobile homes

Don Boyd

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Thousands of Sioux Falls mobile home owners live in a place that’s well past its expiration date and worth less than a used car.

For a city that struggles to keep up with demand for affordable housing, the 2,873 mobile homes are a cheap option. But with 470 of those homes built before 1976, when standards for mobile home construction were established, some worry far too many Sioux Falls residents live in substandard housing.

Dwight McElhaney, the city’s community development manager, oversees efforts to provide affordable housing for recent immigrants, the working poor and other low-income groups. He said the fact that so many older mobile homes are on their last legs threatens to exacerbate Sioux Falls’ problem of finding these people a place to live.

“It’s kind of shocking when you go out to the west side of town,” McElhaney said of the number of older mobile homes in that area.

“We think it’s something the city needs to address now rather than later.”

When Sadie Waters became pregnant with her first child, she and the father settled in a mobile home in the Marion Manor Mobile Park near West 12th Street. It was cheaper than an apartment and, once it was paid for, it was theirs. She now pays $235 a month to lease the space her home sits on, plus utilities.

“It’s cheaper than an apartment and you can own it,” Waters said.

Proper maintenance vital to longevity

The largest single issue facing mobile homes of any age is maintenance. By their nature, mobile homes have a different set of maintenance issues than traditional homes. Problems such as water leaks or frozen pipes, for example, can be much more devastating to a mobile home because it doesn’t have a foundation.

“They’re like old cars; if you don’t keep them up, they fall apart,” said Kevin Wieser, who has lived in his mobile home at Marion Manor for 29 years. “It’s weird, there’s so much upkeep.”

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Don Boyd, part owner of the Marion Manor Mobile Park, has been managing mobile home parks in Sioux Falls for many years. He said a home can last for as many years as it is properly maintained.

“A mobile home is no different than a house. If you keep it properly maintained … there’s no reason that these homes can’t last for 50 years,” Boyd said.

But the challenge of maintaining a mobile home often proves too much for owners, Wieser said, pointing to a home across the street from his that recently was abandoned because of water damage that proved too difficult to repair. His own home was damaged during the April ice storm but Wieser said he was able to repair the damage himself.

In 1976, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development implemented the first uniform mobile home construction standards. Before HUD imposed its mobile home construction standards, mobile homes were, essentially, built like recreational vehicles. With less insulation and thinner walls, for example, they can cost more to keep warm, Boyd said.

City looks for obvious hazards

According to Minnehaha County tax data, the average assessed value of the 470 mobile homes built before 1976 is less than $3,000. Many of them have passed their expected life span and now make up a significant portion of the lower-income affordable housing stock in the city, McElhaney said.

“These people have to live somewhere. Affordable housing is hard to find anywhere in Sioux Falls,” said affordable housing division program specialist Brent Tucker.

Ron Bell of the Property Maintenance Division, which enforces city building codes, said that at any given time his office has 70 to 80 open complaints on mobile homes. When a complaint is filed and verified, a property owner is ordered to fix the problem. Still, Bell said, his office is limited in the scope of issues it can address.

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“All we can get involved in is minimum life safety requirements,” Bell said. “It can be a lengthy process.”

In extreme cases, homes can be removed altogether but only after a long process, Bell said. That is something affordable housing officials would like to avoid.

Sioux Falls helps with repairs

The city Community Development Department maintains a fund to help distressed mobile home owners make essential repairs, but the fund is limited to a total of $10,000 a year and $2,000 per home.

“We’re here trying to keep people in their homes,” McElhaney said. “A lot of the problems can be fixed with a little bit of work. ... Also, (we’re) educating these owners on the things they need to do to maintain these properties.”

For Boyd, the fact that a house may be old or a person may be living on a lower income doesn’t mean they should have to struggle to pay for their home.

“I’ve often said that even if you don’t live in an $80,000 house or a $150,000, house you still need an affordable place to live,” Boyd said.